Below you’ll find poems, stories and sayings that you can use for combined birth announcement/mourning cards or for the funeral. We can also assist you with ideas for the farewell and funeral of your baby.
‘Hope’ is that thing
with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops
– at all.
© Emily Dickinson
So beautiful, as if almost you don’t exist
but here you are
cautiously showing your presence
transparent in all your being
© Ruben van Gogh
A star falls from the sky and into your hands.
Then it seeps through your veins
and swims inside your blood
and becomes every part of you.
And then you have to put it back into the sky.
And it’s the most painful thing you’ll ever have to do
and that you’ve ever done.
But what’s yours is yours.
Whether it’s up in the sky of here in your hands.
© C. Joybell C.
My girl, my gift
When I think of you,
I whisper your name
Calling out for you still
As I believe
you can still hear me
And perhaps time
slowly fades your image
You still are
right under my skin
Almost no one that knows you
But I know who you are
You were tender and small then
But how would you be now?
I often think about that
A teenager in its shell,
too big now for a doll
And would you look like me?
My cheek against yours
Kissing it better
And never afraid again, ever
This is how it should have been
But fate caught up with us
And I’m looking for the meaning
But who lives in your heart
can stay, stay for a little longer
Because your star is burning bright
For all to see
No matter how far away
My girl, my gift
What I often think about is
Where you’ll be now
And whilst there
Do you look down upon us
And can you feel our longing?
Or are you all nice and warm
high up on a balcony
Or sitting arm in arm
with granddad in the sun?
I want to believe it
We live in darkness
They say it will wear off
And that through time
things will get better
But it does not wear off
Instead, the sadness and pain
become a part of me
Completely unexpected
Sometimes triggered by a smell
or in the middle of the night, that door opens
And a tear runs down my cheek
I’ll let it be…
But who lives in your heart
can stay, stay for a little longer
Because your star is burning bright
For all to see
No matter how far away
Like a small white cloud
Driven by the wind
You called upon us
You were our child for a while
I look up
And can see the passing
Of a small white cloud
Along the clear blue sky
Everything you really love
Will continue to give you warmth
Even though it didn’t stay
Or become what you wanted
It always remains a part of you
And a part of your life
© Robert Long
A woman burying her husband is called a widow,
A man surviving his wife is a widower.
A child without its parents is an orphan.
But what do we call the father and mother whose child has died?
© P.F. Thomése- Shadow child
Believing is the energy
That keeps you thinking
That fate
Does not have the last word
“Farewell is the birth of a memory”
He came too early
He had to leave too soon
He continues to live
In your hearts and dreams
You were still so tiny
It should have been different
So sweet, crying with mum
Who is crying over it now with dad
I hope you find peace and quiet
Goodbye my little man, my sweet little child
A sky-blue butterfly
Flies high up in the air
Higher and higher….
It seems like the butterfly has disappeared
As the blue of the butterfly
Merges with the sky above
Sometimes, it is hard to believe
In what can’t be seen
We think the butterfly has gone
But she’s still flying,
Only too far for us to see
Higher and higher….
For now and forever.
You came as a butterfly
On my shoulder for a while
I admired your beauty
And enjoyed your colours
And up you went
The wind taking you to heights unknown.
It is almost unbearable
When so much expectation
Suddenly changes
Into so much sadness
You have been here
and will always be there somewhere
although the pain will fade
and others are silent about you
I’ll always carry you with me
wherever I go
I’ll never deny your existence
but it’s hard to get used to
that you’ll never be real
Like a caterpillar in its cocoon
A butterfly has flown
Having touched upon our souls
Forever…….
You didn’t stay
And yet you do
And you live on
Forever in my heart
a flower broken whilst still in its bud
a blank page
a sweet little boy
denied a chance of life
it is incomprehensible
no answers as to why
a child that was so welcome
and still couldn’t stay
our lives will go on
carrying the silent pain in our hearts
because your life here on Earth
wasn’t to be
only one day to live
one day to die
your life in one day
a lifetime
Confusion
confusion about me
confusion within me
confusion by me?
all those words
they aren’t getting through anymore,
only half
the pain, not literally
not physically there
but still present
where joy belongs,
where it should have been
day after day
a riddle
what will conquer this?
who will ever make that happen?
how will I survive?
this
the confusion
between two extremes
and yet
this connection
feelings
pain, joy
together, but alone
here, but far away
forever
The disappearance of my dreams
my views are getting closer
pieces that I had buried alive
they colour new in old pain
I want to bear those burdens now
emotions changed too quickly for me
I couldn’t slow them down
my vision was too narrow and chained
No one there to ask for the answers
shadows that stole my warmth eyes that hated me
a white plain left me standing abandoned by all
open and exposed with only the sun to cry in
no warm hand, no protective corner to shelter
I break faces by hand
emotions run free I settle
with my mind that effort won’t reward me
it hurts so much the disappearance of my dreams
© Wil Melker
The love for all life
The love of leaving life
And then for a little while
Putting things into perspective…away from results
Your name engraved in our hearts
Will never deny your existence
Remember your birth as a gift
May never get used to your farewell
Mum and dad, grandfathers and grandmothers,
Everyone who loves you is here
And you, surrounded by our love, are there
So lonely and alone… it’s hard
to express in words
We need to go on… but you’re done
It was a good time
I enjoyed the seven months
of you living in my belly
Only a little longer and you’d have come
When suddenly it became silent
dead silent
you came without a sound
silently slipped away
my arms and my heart are empty
so empty
Give me your hand and hold me
because it’s so dark around me now.
I sometimes feel so immensely alone
I carry life as a burden.
Be quiet, as words are lost
in a hurricane that’s now engulfing me.
I know you mean well
but sometimes, I can’t hear those words anymore
Give me your shoulder to cry on
and listen to my endless story.
Translate my tears into unspoken language
Give me your arms to hide in.
When you keep surrounding me with warmth
the world won’t be so cold anymore
and – despite all the pain –
I will one day hear the birds sing again.
When everything hurts deep inside
And you, confronted by your own image,
Can only see distortion by missing mirrors
When things make way for your shadow
When your word seems that of another person
And your heartbeat flees from your body
When your hands are far away from you
And you don’t recognize the imprint of your feet
When you have forgotten the face that is approaching
When you can’t see anything but a dead exterior
Then go
Like salmon go
Upstream
With all the fury of your anger
Don’t despair
The water will break the stones
© Michelle Najlis
If you still want to give me something
then I would ask:
don’t die with me,
embrace life.
You may be sad
but don’t despair,
don’t drown in too much grief.
If you still want to give me something
Then I would want to
continue to see the future,
continue to be hopeful
so that you can blossom
and live life to the full
giving life every opportunity.
Frozen sadness
There are no words for a thousand things
the horizon gone into nothingness.
Time is lost unnoticed, I’m caught in frozen sadness.
Sadness is timeless, without measure.
days from nothingness to nothingness.
The clock that stopped such a long time ago,
wants to go on, but can’t.
The people around me do.
Time heals all wounds!
Nobody understands what I lost,
when standing by you, defeated.
Mum is the word.
The start of it all.
Mum is the word.
That belongs to every child.
A word to whisper.
Not to scream out loud.
It needs no explanation.
And passes through centuries.
Mum is the word.
The start of mankind.
Mama is a different word.
For the dearest.
© Toon Hermans
I’m looking for a word
A whole new word
A word that nobody knows
I’m looking for a word
That wants to say
That you’re the sweetest
© Hans and Monique Hagen
When you’re sad
Look into your heart
And you’ll see that you’re crying
Because of what joy gave you
© Kahlil Gibran
From: The little Prince:
The little prince says to the fox, to you:
Tonight it’s been a year. Then my star will be exactly above where I fell to Earth last year.
I’m going back to my star now.
You have to watch the stars. My star is too small to show exactly where it is. It’s better that way. To you, my star will be one of the millions you can see. You’ll enjoy watching all those stars… All stars will be your friends…
Stars mean different things to people. For some people, who travel far, the stars serve as a guide. To others, there are mere little lights. And then there are those, the scientists, who want to study the stars. But all those stars are silent.
You’ll have stars like no one else has …
What exactly do you mean, little Prince?
And the little Prince replies: If you look up to the sky at night, it will be as if all the stars are smiling – because I live on a star and because I’m smiling!
And once you have wiped your tears, you’ll be very happy to have known me. You’ll always be my friend and you’ll want to smile with me. And from time to time, you’ll want to open the window… And your friends will be very surprised to see you smile when you look up to the sky. And you’ll tell them: “Yes, the stars always make me smile”. And they’ll think you’re crazy. But you know better.
You know, despite my leaving, I’m still with you …
Where I’m going is far away. I can’t take this body with me. It’s much too heavy.
And you know: you won’t be able to see me anymore with your eyes. But if you look up to the stars through the eyes of your heart, you can see me forever.
From: Guess how much I love you:
The story is about little Hazel and Big Hare who love each other very much. But how much exactly – that’s not easy to measure! Hazel must go to sleep, but doesn’t want to yet. She wants to tell her dad Big Hare how much she loves him. Little Hazel says ‘There’s something I need to tell you. Guess how much I love you? This much!’ Hazel stretches out her arms as far as she can. Big Hare stretches out his arms as well: ‘And I love you this much!’ Wow, that’s a lot, Hazel thinks to herself. Little Hazel wants to think of something that Big Hare can’t copy. She says ‘I love you all the way to the moon’. ‘That’s far away’, Big Hare says. ‘That’s far, far away.’ Big Hare puts little Hazel into bed her fern-filled bed. He kisses her goodnight. ‘Sleep tight,’ he says. And while Big Hare lays down close to little Hazel, he whispers: ‘I love you all the way to the moon – AND BACK.’
Floating
Sometimes when I’m lying in bed, with my eyes closed
I can feel starting to float, I’m so light
Light as a feather, the leaf of a tree
I gently float out of my window, like a dream
Floating through the clouds, carried by the wind
All alone, the only child
I kind of like it, floating through the night
Mum, come have a look, I’m sleeping tight already.
If I could carry you
Across the deep canals
of your doubts and fears
Then I would carry you
For hours and days
If I knew the words
To answer your thousand questions
About life, death, about yourself
About loving and being happy
Then I would talk to you
For hours and days
If I could heal all that goes on in your heart
The powerlessness, dissatisfaction and unprocessed sadness
Then I would stay next to you
For hours and days
But I’m not bigger
Not stronger than you
And I don’t know everything
And I can’t do that much
I’m just a man on your way
For hours and days
And I can only hope
That you know this:
You never have to fight alone
Or cry
If you have a friend
For hours and days
An angel in the book of life
Wrote down an infant’s birth
And mentioned as he closed the book
Too beautiful for Earth
The mystery of things, where is it?
Where is it, that it doesn’t show itself
At least to show that it is mystery?
What does the river know about this and the tree?
And I, who is no more than they are, what do I know about it?
Every time I look at things and think of what
People will think of it
I smile like a cool mountain stream flowing across stones.
For the only hidden meaning of things
Is that they don’t have any hidden meaning.
It’s stranger than anything strange,
Stranger than the dreams of all poets
And the thoughts of all philosophers,
That things truly are what they seem to be
And that nothing can be understood.
Yes, my senses found that out all by themselves
Things have no meaning: they exist.
The things are the only hidden meaning of things.
© Fernando Pessoa